Main Impacts of an Ageing Population
Increase in the dependency ratio. If the retirement age remains fixed, and the life expectancy increases, there will be relatively more people claiming pension benefits and less people working and paying income taxes. The fear is that it will require high tax rates on the current, shrinking workforce.
Increased government spending on health care and pensions. Also, those in retirement tend to pay lower income taxes because they are not working. This combination of higher spending commitments and lower tax revenue is a source of concern for Western governments – especially those with existing debt issues and unfunded pension schemes.
Those in work may have to pay higher taxes. This could create disincentives to work and disincentives for firms to invest, therefore there could be a fall in productivity and growth.
Shortage of workers. An ageing population could lead to a shortage of workers and hence push up wages causing wage inflation. Alternatively, firms may have to respond by encouraging more people to enter the workforce, through offering flexible working practices.
Changing sectors within the economy. An increase in the numbers of retired people will create a bigger market for goods and services linked to older people (e.g. retirement homes)
Higher savings for pensions may reduce capital investment. If society is putting a higher % of income into pension funds, it could reduce the amount of savings available for more productive investment, leading to lower rates of economic growth.
Evaluation of an Ageing Population
A declining birth rate also means a smaller number of young people. This will save the government money because young people require education and pay little, if any, taxes.
It depends on health and mobility of an ageing population. If medical science helps people live longer, but with poor mobility, there will be less chance to work. If people live longer and can remain physically active for longer, the adverse impact will be less.
Immigration could be a potential way to defuse the impact of an ageing population because immigration is often from younger people.
Increasing the retirement age is one solution to an ageing population. But, the effect of a higher retirement age will not be felt equally. Those with private savings may be able to still retire early, those with low income paid jobs are more likely to have to keep working. Also, the impact of longer working life will be felt more by manual workers who will find it harder to keep working.
Population demographics have been shifting for the past few centuries. This is not the first time we have had shifts in the age profile of the population.
A big issue is whether spending commitments are funded or unfunded. Many western governments fund their pension plans through pay as you go, rather than saving national insurance contributions.
Part of the problem is that there is currently a strong incentive for people to retire early. The effective marginal tax rate imposed on earnings resulting from delayed retirement has in many systems been in excess of 60 per cent (link) These incentives have encouraged many to take early retirement. Also, there is often a rule prohibiting people working longer – even if they wanted to. If these incentives can be changed, we could increase the number of people working for longer and reduce the dependency burden.